Flourless Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
18oz bittersweet chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
6 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 10 inch round cake pan and set aside (or line with parchment).

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
In a double boiler, melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.

Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners sugar.

Lemony Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

I've discovered the best way to eat this is at breakfast. It's basically just eggs, yogurt and fruit! I've also discovered that the type of yogurt you use makes a WORLD of difference. I like Wallaby with the sugar or Greek Gods Honey Vanilla and cut down the additional sugar. As an alternative to the regular graham cracker Crust, I've also began to add ginger powder for a twist on the taste.

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (6-8 whole cookies)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup melted butter (plus 1-2 tsp for preparing pan)

Lemon Greek Yogurt Filling:
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 tbs. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups plain Greek Yogurt
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350° F. Break graham crackers and place in food processor.* Pulse until ground into medium-fine crumbs. Put into medium mixing bowl, and stir in butter and sugar. Turn out into a buttered nine-inch springform pan and, using your fingers, press mixture into an even crust along the bottom. You can also use a buttered glass pie plate and form the crumbs into a traditional crust along the bottom and up the sides. Bake for 10-15 minutes until firm and dry. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in sugar, cornstarch, salt, vanilla, and yogurt until light and slightly bubbly. Add lemon and lemon zest and pulse or beat briefly to incorporate. Pour mixture into prepared crust (it's fine if the crust is still warm).

Place in center of oven. Start checking cheesecake after 50 minutes and then every 5-10 minutes after that. Shake pan gently. The filling should look creamy but firm at the edges, and still appear slightly jiggly in the center. It will firm up as it cools. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Optional topping: 3 cups sliced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or mixed berries tossed with two tablespoons sugar. Let mixture sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the berries get nice and juicy. Spoon desired amount of topping over a slice of cheesecake before serving.

Carrot Cake

I am an avid juicer and recently I had a new blend in my line-up; carrot, coconut and lime. The downside, lots of leftover carrot pulp?! What to do with it? The upside...Carrot Cake!!!

In this version, I happened to be making ricotta cheese and consequently had a lot of extra whey around. So, I added the carrot juice moisture back in the form of whey. In other words, the carrots used for shreds produced made 3/4c carrot juice, thus I added 3/4c whey to the batter.




Cake
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour 
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/4 c light brown sugar
3/4 c vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups shredded carrots 
2/3 cups dried currants & raisins, soaked overnight in rum and strained.

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c butter (1 stick), room temperature
3 c confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c pecan pieces


Pre-heat oven to 350º and set rack to the middle of the oven.

Whisk all wet ingredients together. Then stir in dry ingredients adding the flour last. Pour batter into parchment lined a half sheet jelly roll pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 15 minutes until the center is firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack, leaving the parchment side down.

While cake is cooling, toast the pecans and chop coarsely, set aside.
Use paddle attachment on an electric mixer and beat all remaining frosting ingredients.

To finish, cut the cooled cake into quarters. Place your first piece of cake on a plate 
(or cardboard bottom) and spread approximately 1/2c of frosting evenly with an offset spatula. Repeat with 2 more layers. Frost the sides of the cake with your remaining frosting. Gently press the chopped pecans onto the side of your cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Cinnamon Pull-apart Bread

I love monkey bread just about as much as unicorns love rainbows. Over the holidays it's a tradition at Brunch. Instead of using the traditional bunt pan, I made a smaller batch in the form or pull apart bread! 


Dough
1/4 oz active dry yeast
1/4 c warm water
1/4 c scalded milk
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 3/4 c All-Purpose Flour

Cinnamon spread
3 tbs light brown sugar
3 tbs granulated sugar
2 tbs butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs cocoa powder (optional)

Glaze
1-2 tbs whole milk
1 tbs butter
1/2 c powdered sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together four cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and milk on medium heat until the butter is just melted. Remove from heat and add the water and vanilla extract. Let mixture cool for 2 minutes. 

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and continue to stir until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The batter will be quite sticky at this point.

Add the remaining cup and a half of flour and continue to mix with a spatula for an additional 2 minutes, until ingredients are well combined. The dough will still be a little sticky. Place the dough is a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Once the dough has risen, punch the dough and knead the remaining four tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Butter the bread loafs. Cut the dough into two equal pieces, and place one piece back into a bowl and cover with the towel. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to about 1/4 inch thick.

Use a brush to generously spread melted butter across the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cut the dough vertically into six equal strips. Stack the strips one on top of another and slice the stack into six equal slices. You should have six stacks of six squares.

 

Place the squares into the prepared bread loafs, so that they are standing up. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. (180ºC). Cover both loaf pans with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The center will be a bit soft. Drizzle glaze on top. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Black Truffle Risotto with Green Tea

Risotto
1/4 c White wine
1 c Arborio rice
1.5 c Chicken stock
1 tbs Butter
1/2 small onion diced
1/4 c Shredded parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Mushrooms
3/4 lb mixed mushrooms (portobello, crimini, shitake, etc.) 
1 clove garlic
1 tbs butter
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbs truffle oil
1/4 c white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
Fresh Black Truffle, shaved
2 c Green tea


Heat the stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.

Meanwhile, in a medium sauté pan, melt 1tbs butter and 1 tablespoon truffle oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Saute mushrooms over medium heat until softened and then add garlic and thyme. When garlic is fragrant, about 30-45 seconds, add white wine and cook until most of the wine is evaporated. Check seasoning and set aside.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil and 1 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the chopped shallot or onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until it is slightly translucent.


Add the rice to the pot and stir it briskly with a wooden spoon so that the grains are coated with the oil and melted butter. Sauté for another minute or so, until there is a slightly nutty aroma. But don't let the rice turn brown.


Add the wine and cook while stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed. Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. When the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle of stock and repeat the process. 

Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, for 20-30 minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. If you run out of stock and the risotto still isn't done, you can finish the cooking using hot water. Just add the water as you did with the stock, a ladle at a time, stirring while it's absorbed. Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp butter, the parmesan cheese and the parsley, and season to taste with Kosher salt.

Sausage, Potato, + Kale Soup

1/2 lb Italian sausage
2 medium Russett potatoes, diced
1 medium onion
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 bunch kale
4c Chicken stock

Saute sausage with chili flakes, fennel seeds and onion then strain out any excess fat. Add potatoes and chicken stock and cook on a low boil until potatoes are softened, about 10-15 minutes. Add kale last and cook for 5 more minutes.

Savory Mushroom Tart

At the farmer's market I found a little ball of sunshine. I brought it home and have been savoring + rationing it. The last little chunk garnished my lunch.

Crust
1 1/4c Flour
1/2c Butter
3 tbsp chilled water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried Rosemary, chopped
1 tsp dried Thyme. chopped

Filling
3/4 lb Mixed wild mushrooms (Crimini, Portobello, Shitake, etc)
1/4 c Dry white wine
1 tbs Olive oil
2 tsp Chopped garlic
2 tsp Fresh Thyme
1/2 small Onion, sliced and Caramelized
1c Coconut milk or Cream
3 Eggs
goat cheese and shaved white truffle to garnish

Combine flour herbs and salt in a bowl. Scatter chilled butter pieces over the flour mixture and cut in. When coarse crumbs form, drizzle in water until dough becomes an evenly moist mass; not a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill.
Meanwhile, in a medium sauté pan, heat up olive oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms + onions and season with salt and pepper. Saute mushrooms over medium heat until softened and then add garlic and thyme. When garlic is fragrant, about 30-45 seconds, add white wine and cook until most of the wine is evaporated. Check seasoning and set aside.

Roll out dough and line it in a tart pan. Scatter mushroom and onions. Beat eggs and coconut milk and pour on top, filling the pan, but not overflowing. 

Bake @325 for 40-45 minutes, until eggs/milk are firm.
Garnish with goat cheese and shaved white truffle.